The latest news, conferences and events

New mythbusting booklet

Mythbusters are a regular feature of Red Pepper magazine and seven of the most popular pieces have been brought together in a new booklet for mass distribution.

It answers the common myths about unions, welfare reform, immigration and housing. It exposes what private finance doesn’t want you to know about pensions, sets the record straight on higher education and crucially explains why there’s absolutely no need for public spending cuts.

We’ve all had those moments when some right-wing myth is casually slipped into conversation. You know it’s not true, but sometimes it’s hard to convince people of a fairer point of view, especially if you’re trying to explain something that you see as common sense.

It doesn’t help that the national tabloids tend to reinforce the the most outrageous and divisive ideas. We see headlines such as “They’ve stolen all our jobs” (Daily Star on immigrants), “75% on sick are skiving” (Daily Express), and recently the Daily Mail described an accused child murderer as a “Vile product of Welfare UK”.

The truth is that we need migration, just as much as we need to save and strengthen welfare. While the government and corporations attack the welfare state under the veil of austerity, it’s all too convenient for them if the rest of us blame each other and fight amongst ourselves.

This booklet is designed to put the record straight when it comes to rumours that blame the poor and vulnerable for society’s problems.

The Kilburn Manifesto

The Kilburn Manifesto is a statement being made in twelve monthly instalments, issued free online, about the nature of the neoliberal system which now dominates Britain and most of the Western world, and about the need to develop coherent alternatives to it. Its principal authors, Stuart Hall, Doreen Massey and Michael Rustin have had a long association with the New Left, since its first days in 1956, and have been significant figures in its various initiatives, such as the founding of Universities and Left Review and New Left Review, the May Day Manifesto (just reissued) and the Greater London Council led by Ken Livingstone. They are the founding editors of the journal Soundings, which is responsible for the Kilburn Manifesto, and which has reissued the 1968 May Day Manifesto in the context of this initiative.